With the support of the Danish government, the training centre was set up about 30 years ago and comprises six courts and 30 of the country's best players.

Danish badminton is said to date back to 1925, when a sports shop owner brought back four racquets from England and played with three friends, before introducing it to a club in Copenhagen.

Meibom said Denmark has a proud tradition in the sport, comparing it to Sweden in tennis with greats such as Björn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg.

But he warned that the Sweden example also makes for a cautionary tale -- they have been on the slide in tennis since the 1990s.

"Who would have expected Swedish tennis to deteriorate like it did? So we are not taking it (success) lightly," said Meibom.

Like in many countries, football is the most popular sport in Denmark.

Surprisingly, given their success and the fact they have reigning world champion in Axelsen, badminton is not even as popular in Denmark as gymnastics, golf or handball if judged in terms of participation numbers, said Meibom.

This is a cause for concern and numbers have been steadily falling -- until a reverse last year.

According to Meibom, the Danish badminton federation has about 90,000 members, compared to 160,000 some 20 years ago.

"Having a world champion increases the interest in badminton but if the regular, day-to-day training isn't very good, no good coaches, it will stop immediately," he said.

"It is not enough to have idols because if the local training at the club isn't good enough, they will go off and play something else like football.

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